A Temporary Housing "Adventure"

Remember when our new construction was going to be finished by mid-December 2016? Plans have changed just a few times since then.

Exterior, last week in January 2017.

Because of construction delays from a very wet fall, the closing date was moved to January 6th.

Sometime in late December, while we were at Children's, the builders got back to us: closing would be on February 10th. Hmm... we had signed a purchase agreement to sell our house on Feb 2nd (assuming there was NO way the new house would be delayed another month past the Jan 6th date... so much for that.)

So: game plan #2: move over to Craig's house for those 8 days. We packed up about 1/2 of our house, leaving out just the things we thought we would need for ~2 weeks.

Lots of boxes

Then, we received a call from the builders mid January. Thursday (today!) was the deadline to submit Parade of Homes applications. They wondered if we would be open to showing our house in the Parade. Cool! After a lot of back and forth, thinking through logistics, negotiating on a discount on the house and other incentives -- we decided to go for it!

So: game plan #3! Move the majority of our stuff into the garage of the new build. Leave the walls of the garage clear so that the inspector can still do his job. Move ~2 months (and whatever won't fit in the Northfield garage) into the builder's model home in Faribault.

THANK YOU to everyone who helped. We had an awesome crew!

Construction on the new build will continue into February (now we aren't as rushed to finish ASAP which is nice). Then it will be shown in the Parade until the first week in April. We will then pack up our temporary living stuff, move it to Northfield, and begin moving into our "forever house". I honestly can not WAIT!

SO many decisions to make! This was about my 10th trip to the granite store to look at a remnant that had just come in. The lighter colored granite is our center island stone. We were lucky to have a brown marbled quartz remnant come in just in time for us to us along the perimeter (there wasn't enough of the light colored stone - and buying an additional slab for the perimiter would have been ridiculously expensive).

The Faribault model is gorgeous. We are just a few days into the move, living amongst boxes, but I already appreciate that it is a rambler with a main floor Master Suite, a walk-in pantry, a laundry with a SINK (our prior house didn't have a sink in the laundry room... so odd), an awesome walk-in tiled Master shower... I could go on :). Take a look at it here.

The only more difficult thing is that it is in Faribault, and other than Nathan's work, our lives center around Northfield. My life will become more hectic as I'll have to drop off and pick up the kiddos every day - which will be difficult if Anna continues to wake up in the middle of the night! (Since Greta gets up at 6:30 every morning no matter if Anna has been up 3 times from 12p-6a or has slept through the night!) Previously I would take Anna's night shifts, Nathan would take the girls to school, and I'd be able to sleep an extra hour or two after they left. I'll have to think through my day and pack up for errands, my workouts, etc - but that won't be hard. It will be the lack of sleep that will get to me, I think.

But, as I told my dad during his Thanksgiving day run: you can do anything for 3 minutes 2 months! Plus, when there is a defined end date (a "goal"!) I usually can withstand most things: chaos, sleep deprivation, long hours, whatever.

We close on the Crocus Ct. house today. It will be nice to hand that property off to the new buyers. One less thing on our brains/to-do lists (as Nathan was cleaning until midnight on Monday night and I put in another couple of hours Tuesday morning before work). I'm surprised I don't feel more sad to leave it.

Empty Crocus Ct. kitchen

An empty Crocus Ct house ready for its new owners. I'm oddly not too sad to leave it -- maybe because I know we are moving to a house that will be even more perfect for us?

A nut, clearly very excited about all of this.

Yep, she found a Russian-looking winter hat. And Anna's pacifier. Then proceeded to want to get into her crib and jump and sing.

How were we so lucky to be blessed with an always-happy, amusing little girl?

Here's to another crazy chapter of our lives! YAY, adventures!

Nichole Porath

Nichole is a blogger, elite level runner, and coach. She ran professionally for Brooks for two years after qualifying for the 2012 US Olympic Marathon Trials. During that time she founded TNC endurance, where she coaches and motivationally speaks to organizations large and small. This blog details her rise to national-level racing, and continues to follow her as she gets back into racing after starting a family. Read on, friends!

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Welcome!

I'm a runner, '12 Olympic Trials Qualifier, Team Nichole Coaching (TNC) owner and coach, former World Record holder in the indoor marathon, wife and mom. I am passionate about finding my potential as a runner and helping others do the same! Inspired by fitness, healthy eating, organization, family adventures, and sewing projects. Run along with me, friends!